Cape Town - Curro, a private academic institution, has replaced its sporting activities with e-Sports during the lockdown.
As restrictions begin to ease, the phasing of school reopening continues, although many parents feel unsure about letting their kids return.
There have been many changes put in place with strict operating guidelines, health protocols and safety measures to protect learners that are returning to school with extramural activities such as sport ut on hold.
Curro has found a way around the lack of activities that promotes teamwork and communication between learners with students taking part in Minecraft: Education, which is a sandbox game - meaning various elements are used to build objects - with the specific edition teaching maths, physics, engineering and more subjects serving as a great interactive learning platform that encourages creativity, innovation and exploration.
Introduction of Minecraft: Education allowed Curro to take the learning platform further with learners taking part competitively in e-Sports leagues creating a safer alternative to team sports during the lockdown.
Angela Schaerer, technology business relationships manager at Curro, said “during lockdown esports became an amazing opportunity because learners couldn’t connect via traditional sports or clubs. The online world of Minecraft creates a perfect digital environment for learners to collaborate and play.”
20 teams consisting of 200 Curro students have taken part in their competitive league where teams work together to create pirate-themed objects and get judged on teamwork, use of space, use of colour and aesthetic.
“Piloting this project for Microsoft has been a privilege, and to see the enthusiasm of both the learners and teachers towards this Minecraft competition has been inspiring,” said Schaerer according to a news source, “To experience how these players work together to build these incredibly detailed structures is remarkable."
The final will take place on Saturday, 11 July 2020 at 4pm and can be watched live on SEi Sport TV.
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